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Why bother reading Nando Parrado's book if you have already read 'Alive' right? After all, that book was written right after the event with extensive interviews with the 16 survivors and offers an accurate and detailed account of the events of that tragic crash sight portrayed in the 1993 Ethan Hawke movie 'Alive'?

WRONG! This book is simply amazing. Written thirty years after the crash Nando ruminates and expresses his emotions about those awful 72 days. There are many interesting points he brings up.

By all accounts Nando was a shy awkward boy before the crash, but it was HIM out of the 26 survivors (which tragically became 16 before the rescue) that kept his wits about him and tenaciously climbed over that mountain in street clothes and no gear and got his friends that were starving to death rescued.

To this day Nando is very humble, saying he's not a hero, saying he just wanted off that mountain and would rather die trying than stay in that ghoulish crash site infamous for the survivors having to eat the dead. Many of the other boys helped the situation (or fell apart) in various ways but it was Nando that got them out. What is the magic temperament and personality of a survivalist when the chips are down and all hope is lost?

I loved viewing the narrative from his view, which is not the detailed account of events in 'Alive' but Nando's perception of them. There are several details that stood out, inspired me, and broke my heart.

1.) Tending to his sister while she took a week to die after the crash. In 'Alive' the other witnesses show Nando being quiet and lying by her. In his account he is consumed with anguish at not being able to take away her pain. He had always been an over protective big brother, going as far as to drive her home from parties and sitting in the back of movie theaters on her dates to make sure his sister Suzy was safe. Most sisters would resent this but Suzy liked it, they were extremely close. All he could do was shield her from the cold with his body, and when she died he could hug her tight without fear of hurting her.

2.) It was fear and love for his Father that gave him the tenacity to keep going over that mountain. Knowing his father thought his wife, daughter, and son were all killed Nando wanted to get back to him so his father didn't kill himself.

3.)From the start he was practical. When he awoke from a coma after the crash to find his Mother dead, his best friend dead, and his sister dying a disembodied voice in his head told him. 'Don't cry. Crying wastes salt. You need salt to live.' I know that never would have gone through my mind at such a time.

4.)He visualized going over that mountain every day, staring at it, imagining his path. People say visualization helps one reach goals and Nando was obsessed with it. If not for the other survivors begging him to stay he would have gone over the mountain earlier and frozen to death, he was so determined. It was only after they fashioned a sleeping bag out of he plane insulation that the expedition was possible to be successful.

5. A thought that kept going through his mind was "I'm already dead, so I might as well do this until I drop."

6. By all accounts in 'Alive' he picked on, harassed, and bullied fellow survivor Roy Harley, which the other boys didn't get. Unlike Canessa and Tin Tin, Nando was not a bully, he was the opposite. Even though he was one of the strong he looked out after the weak. Roy Harley was a boy that was physically unharmed but would burst into tears a lot and had a bit of a nervous breakdown. There were other boys who contributed less, so why did Nando single out Harley?

Nando says, all these years later, that he saw himself in Roy Harley. The expressions on his face mirrored what was he was feeling. Nando didn't cry once during the entire ordeal on that mountain. Every time Roy did, Nando felt like he would break. Nando know if he broke, he would never survive and get off that mountain. He says now he is ashamed of how he treated him.

(After an expedition to the broken off plane tail to retrieve batteries Canessa and Tin Tin abandoned Harley in the storm after Harley fell down and wouldn't get up. Nando abandoned him too - they had to get back to the fuselage or die in the storm - Nando couldn't take leaving him to die and went back for him. After cursing out his Mother, coaxing, and kicking him Nando got Harley to get up and walk. He saved Harley's life (twice if you count the final rescue so Harley couldn't hold that much of a grudge against Nando.) But I think it's to his credit that he feels bad.

7. Most of the other survivors felt that God was protecting them and would rescue them and loved them. Nando never felt this, even though he had a religious Catholic upbringing. It was all too random to him. The only reason he was alive and his best friend was dead was because ten minutes before they crashed his friend asked to switch spots so he could have a window seat to look at the mountains. His Mom and sister were dead because of seats they chose on the airplane. If God was protecting the survivors that does that mean they didn't love the dead? He knew such thoughts would only put him in a rage and then demoralize him to the point he couldn't survive, so he put them out of his mind. None the less, he always felt God watching him and present with him, even if he was not protecting him.

8. He is so inspirational. He says everyone in life has their own Andes. Sometimes it's illness, death of a loved one, etc. We're not expecting it, we can't change it. But don't give up.

This book had me in tears at least three or four times, and I'm not an especially emotional person. Everyone should read this book, it's amazing.